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                  <p class="p_Heading1"><span class="f_Heading1">Composite Elements</span></p>



  
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                <p class="p_BodyText"><span class="f_BodyText">Enterprise Architect supports </span><span class="f_BodyText" style="font-style: italic;">Composite elements</span><span class="f_BodyText"> for Classes, Objects, Use Cases and such. A Composite element is a pointer to a child diagram.</span></p>
<p class="p_SubHeadingL1"><span class="f_SubHeadingL1">Create a Composite Element</span></p>
<p class="p_BodyText"><span class="f_BodyText">To set Composite elements from the element context menu, follow the steps below:</span></p>
<ol style="text-indent: 0px; margin-left: 48px; list-style-position: outside;">
<li value=1><span class="f_NumberedList">Create the element to set as a Composite element.</span></li>
<li value=2><span class="f_NumberedList">Right-click on the element in the diagram and select the </span><span class="f_MenuKeyField">Advanced | Make Composite</span><span class="f_NumberedList"> context menu option.</span></li>
</ol>
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<td valign="bottom" width="955" bgcolor="#efeff7" style="width:955px; background-color:#efeff7;"><p class="p_TiporNote" style="border-top: none; border-right: none; border-left: none;"><span class="f_TiporNote">Note:</span></p>
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<td width="955" bgcolor="#f7f7ff" style="width:955px; background-color:#f7f7ff;"><p class="p_TiporNoteText"><span class="f_TiporNoteText">If the </span><span class="f_MenuKeyField">Make Composite</span><span class="f_TiporNoteText"> option is not listed in the context menu, the option is not available for the type of element you have selected.</span></p>
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<p class="p_Bulletlist3"><span class="f_Bulletlist3">The element displays as follows:</span><br>
<span class="f_Bulletlist3">&nbsp;</span><br>
<img src="compositeobject.png" width="114" height="89" border="0" alt="CompositeObject"><br>
<span class="f_Bulletlist3">&nbsp;</span></p>
<p class="p_Bulletlist3"><span class="f_Bulletlist3">Note the small icon in the bottom right hand corner indicating that this is now a Composite element.</span></p>
<ol style="text-indent: 0px; margin-left: 48px; list-style-position: outside;">
<li value=3><span class="f_NumberedList">Double-click on the Composite element to access the child diagram that it points to.</span></li>
</ol>
<p class="p_BodyText"><span class="f_BodyText">The Composite element and its child diagram are represented in the </span><span class="f_UIControl">Project Browser</span><span class="f_BodyText"> as follows:</span></p>
<p class="p_TextIndentedL2"><img src="compositeobject-projectbrowser.png" width="127" height="84" border="0" alt="CompositeObject-ProjectBrowser"></p>
<p class="p_BodyText"><span class="f_BodyText">Note that </span><span class="f_BodyText" style="font-style: italic;">ClassX</span><span class="f_BodyText">, </span><span class="f_BodyText" style="font-style: italic;">ClassY</span><span class="f_BodyText"> and </span><span class="f_BodyText" style="font-style: italic;">ClassZ</span><span class="f_BodyText"> are elements in the child diagram.</span></p>
<p class="p_SubHeadingL1"><span class="f_SubHeadingL1">Alternative Notation</span></p>
<p class="p_BodyText"><span class="f_BodyText">Composite elements might show their contents instead of their usual notation. To enable this notation, right-click on the element to open the context menu, then select the </span><span class="f_MenuKeyField">Advanced | Show Composite Diagram</span><span class="f_BodyText"> option.</span></p>
<p class="p_SubHeadingL1"><span class="f_SubHeadingL1">The Automation Interface</span></p>
<p class="p_BodyText"><span class="f_BodyText"><a href="usingtheautomationinterface.htm">Automation support</a> is available for Composite elements. </span><span class="f_BodyText" style="font-style: italic;">Element</span><span class="f_BodyText"> has an </span><span class="f_BodyText" style="font-style: italic;">Elements</span><span class="f_BodyText"> collection and a </span><span class="f_BodyText" style="font-style: italic;">Diagrams</span><span class="f_BodyText"> collection.</span></p>




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